Tainted home ministry official Ravi Inder Singh suspended

The ministry of home affairs suspended its senior officer Ravi Inder Singh, working as the director in the internal security division, for allegedly leaking sensitive and classified information.

Singh, a 1994-batch IAS officer of the West Bengal cadre, was arrested by the special cell of the Delhi police on Wednesday, under the Prevention of Corruption Act and on charges of criminal conspiracy. Several incriminating documents were seized from his office in north block and his official residence in RK Puram.

According to a senior police officer close to the investigation, some more arrests are also likely to take place.

A city court sent Singh and his co-accused Vineet Kumar to six days’ police custody till November 30. Kumar is a Kolkota-based businessman and was allegedly acting as a broker on behalf of Singh.

The Delhi police told the city court that around 12,000 telephone conversations of Singh had been intercepted. The IAS officer, they said, was using three mobile numbers which he had procured on the basis of a fictitious identity. They also said that Singh was not staying in his official quarters and, instead, residing in a guest house in posh Greater Kailash. The rent of Rs50,000 per month was being paid by a company, Temptation Food Pvt Ltd, which was managed by Vineet, the police informed.

In a clear case of corporate snooping and apparent violation of conduct rules, the police said, a broker from West Bengal has been allegedly trying to make a “deal” with a US-based telecom company, Telcordia, for illegal gratification on behalf of Singh for providing secret information from the home ministry in return of a few crore rupees.

The company’s application related to security clearance in connection with mobile number portability was pending with the ministry.